


Main Attraction

by hawksonfire, Kangofu_CB



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Amusement Park Meet Cute, Becca is a kid, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Bisexual Clint Barton, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Bucky is a good brother, Bucky is a thorsty boy, Bucky is the Dad Friend, Burping Competition, Carnival Games, Deaf Clint Barton, Everyone Is Gay, Ferris Wheel, Fluff, Good for her, Holding Hands, Like four times, M/M, Massage, POV Bucky Barnes, Roller Coasters, Winterhawk Reverse Big Bang, almost kisses, and he loves it, but not til later, but only for Clint, but she likes girls, much later, our boys have FEELINGS, they almost kiss like FOUR TIMES
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 20:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20103130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawksonfire/pseuds/hawksonfire, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kangofu_CB/pseuds/Kangofu_CB
Summary: “What, were you just going to leave after you rode the Ferris wheel?” Bucky asks sarcastically. Clint shrugs and grins sheepishly. “You were, weren’t you,” Bucky says in disbelief. “Did you not know about the two-person rule, or were you just hoping that some poor schmuck would see your sad face and take pity on you?”Clint bumps his shoulder. “Worked, didn’t it?”“Shut up,” Bucky grumbles, feelings his cheeks heat.Or, Bucky goes to an amusement park to watch his sister and ends up finding a certain blond-haired archer to spend the day with.





	Main Attraction

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [[ART] Main Attraction](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20098819) by [hawksonfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawksonfire/pseuds/hawksonfire), [Kangofu_CB](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kangofu_CB/pseuds/Kangofu_CB). 

> _ oh boy! _ This was so much fun to write! 
> 
> Words by me, art by [ Kangofu_CB ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kangofu_CB) . 
> 
> Okay, look. The art for this work is so flipping amazing - I literally wanted to die when I saw it, and then I _ did _ die when I managed to snag it in claims (AND I got to work with CB on this - who, let's face it, is pretty much the best person ever. I love her so much. <3 ) 
> 
> Not gonna lie, I had a little (major) freak out when I saw that we'd been paired together - I had a fanhuman moment and I am unashamed of that.
> 
> ANYWAY, y'all didn't come here for my rambling, you came here for my words! So without further ado, I give you... 
> 
> Main Attraction! _ bows and gestures vaguely _

**Bucky**

“Bucket! Hurry up!” Becca screams. Right in his ear. Bucky groans.

“Remind me again why I agreed to chaperone your date, squirt?” He asks, pulling his little sister into a headlock.

“Bucky,” she whines, wiggling free, “It’s not a date. We’re just friends, okay? Carly doesn’t even like me like that. Besides, I’m only thirteen! Mom says I can’t date until I’m sixteen.”

“Because you always do what Mom says, right? Besides, you like  _ her _ like that,” Bucky teases. Becca smacks at his arm and he yelps playfully. “Hey, watch it! Damaged goods!” 

Becca scoffs at him. “You know mom doesn’t like that kind of talk."

“Mom’s not here, is she?” Bucky says, sticking out his tongue. 

“Becca!” A voice catches his attention and he looks up to see an adorably small blonde girl running towards them. She skids to a stop in front of them, cheeks already red. “Hi!”

“Hi, Carly!” Becca says, and Bucky only knows she’s nervous because he’s been taking care of Becca since she was really little, and her shifting her weight onto her left leg is a pretty clear sign. “Thanks for coming,” she says, smiling. 

An older version of Carly comes walking up to them. “Hi, sorry about her,” she says, tilting her head at Carly, “I’ve told her not to run off, but you know how kids are.”

“Sure,” Bucky agrees, “I’m James, Becca’s older brother.”

“Mandy, Carly’s mom.” They shake hands. “Are you going to be watching them today?”

“Yes ma’am,” Bucky says charmingly, smiling, “Not going to let them out of my sight.”

“Good, Carly tends to wander off if she’s not watched,” Mandy says, digging through her purse. She pulls out a small piece of paper and hands it to him. “This is mine and her father’s phone number, call if there are any problems.”

“Will do,” Bucky says, still smiling, “You have a nice day now. I’ll drop her off when we’re done.” Mandy waves to Carly and is gone, pulling out of the parking lot in a squeal of rubber. Bucky turns to Carly and says, “Who would you rather me call if there are any issues?”

“My dad,” Carly says immediately. Bucky nods.

“Any allergies or other things I need to know about?”

“I’m allergic to shellfish,” Carly says. 

“Cool. No seafood for lunch then,” Bucky says. “Onwards, children!” He ushers them towards the ticketing gate, barely catching the ‘your brother is so  _ cool _ ’ that Carly whispers to Becca. He stifles a grin and buys their tickets, swallowing his groan at the price. “Things are so expensive,” he mutters, handing the blue wristbands to the girls. 

“You’re just an old man, Bucky,” Becca says dismissively. She wraps her wristband on with no problems, then turns to help Carly with hers. “Do you need help?” Carly blushes and holds out her wrist and Becca takes it gently, tongue poking out in concentration. “There, all done!”

“Alright,” Bucky says, clapping his hands, “I was thinking we could start with some games, then go to the Ferris wheel around lunch, and then spend the afternoon doing all the rides. That work for you two?” They both nod and he grins. “Great. You each get three games. They have to be different and you can only ask me to play one of them. Go nuts, kids.” 

Becca and Carly whoop and run off holding hands, disappearing amongst the game booths. Bucky’s not particularly worried about them disappearing, mostly because a Wednesday in April is not the prime time for people to be in amusement parks. Which is exactly why he chose it. He doesn’t do too hot in crowds nowadays. 

“Bucky Bucky Bucky Bucky!” He looks up and sees Becca running towards him, a huge smile on her face. 

“What’s up, squirt?”

“You gotta come watch me do the ring toss!” Bucky rolls his eyes but follows her to the booth, leaning against the side of the tent beside Carly. 

“Welcome, little lady! How many rings would you like today?” The guy running the booth asks.

Becca looks at Bucky and he shrugs. “I put a limit on the number of games, not the cost.” 

She grins at him and says, “Twenty, please.” 

He sets the rings in front of her. “Now, it’s all in fun, so don’t you worry if you don’t get any, alright? Everyone gets a prize!” Bucky snorts. 

Twenty rings later, the guy is staring in shock as Becca’s final ring lands perfectly on the middle bottle. “I’d like the giant light-up sword please,” she says seriously. He hands it to her without a word and she grabs it, taking Carly’s hand and walking away primly, nose in the air and sword over her shoulder.

As soon as they’re a safe distance from the booth, her and Bucky burst out laughing. “Did you see his face?” Bucky wheezes. “He was totally lost!”

“Serves him right for underestimating me,” Becca sniffs, and the expression on her face makes Bucky lose it all over again.

“What just happened?” Carly asks, eyes flicking between the Barnes siblings.

“Our dad has a strange vengeance against carnival-type games,” Becca says casually, looping her arm through Carly’s. 

“He taught us how to play and win them all, even the rigged ones, before we were ten,” Bucky shrugs, “It’s a handy skill to have.”

“Man, your family is so cool,” Carly breathes, eyes wide. Becca snorts. 

“Shall we play a game?” She says, grinning. 

“Aw, heck yes!” Carly shouts, and the two of them go running off towards the various booths, hand in hand. 

“Aw, adorable,” Bucky says, following behind them idly. He keeps one eye on the two girls and one eye on his surroundings as he walks through the park. A flash of purple catches his eye and he finds himself staring as he processes the drool-worthy face that comes with it.

Damn, the man is hot. Blond hair, tall enough to fit Bucky under his arm, cute as shit and a beautiful smile to boot. Bucky snaps his mouth shut and averts his gaze as the guy walks past him, oblivious to Bucky’s glances. Bucky chances a glance behind him and nearly chokes on his own tongue - because  _ goddamn _ that ass, though. Bucky could spend hours worshipping that ass. 

Bucky hasn’t felt this instant attraction to anyone since - well, since before he left for the Army. It’s nice, feeling it again. The only downside is that he’ll probably never see the guy again, so Bucky resigns himself to memorizing the way Cute Guy walks and sighs. 

“Bucky?” He looks down to see Carly standing by his side, watching him curiously. 

“What’s up, Tiny?” 

“How come you were watching that guy?”

“Thought he was cute,” Bucky says, shrugging. 

“Boys can think other boys are cute?” Carly says in disbelief.

“Sure,” Bucky says carefully, “And girls can think other girls are cute, too. Anyone can think anyone’s cute.”

Carly squirms beside him. “Can I think Becca’s cute?” She asks, and Bucky has to stop himself from ‘aww-ing’ out loud. 

“‘Course you can, Tiny. Besides,” He leans down and whispers into her ear, “I have it on good authority that she thinks you’re cute too.”

Carly pulls away from him and stares in shock. “Really?”

Bucky nods seriously. “Really really.” He gives Carly a little push towards Becca, who is coming towards them holding a couple of crowns, and says, “Bet if you asked, she’d hold your hand.”

Carly turns bright pink and walks over to Becca hesitantly. Bucky can’t hear what she says, but whatever it is makes Becca turn red and nod furiously. She puts one crown on her head and the other goes on Carly’s, and then she reaches out her hand. Carly wraps her hand around Becca’s outstretched one and smiles sappily at her. Bucky swallows another ‘aww’ and gives them both a thumbs-up when they look at him - Becca grinning so wide her face is nearly split in two, and Carly hesitantly, like she’s looking for approval.

Damn it, Bucky’s going to end up adopting another one of Becca’s friends, isn’t he? He resigns himself to his future as The Dad , and waves them over. “Becca, that was which game?”

“Third, but Carly gave me one of hers so I can win the matching shield for my sword,” Becca says. 

“I don’t remember that being in the rules,” Bucky says, faux-sternly. “But I  _ guess _ an exception can be made. Go kick some butt, squirt.” Becca grins at him and hands him her sword, then rushes off hand in hand with Carly. Bucky keeps one eye on them and another on his surroundings - unwilling to admit to himself he’s looking for Cute Guy, he just twirls the sword around absently while he keeps watch.

His heart skips a beat every time he catches a glimpse of purple amongst the crowd, but every time, he’s disappointed. He catches himself frowning after he sees the fifth guy in a purple t-shirt and scoffs. “Get a grip, Barnes,” he mutters to himself.

“Bucket! I got the shield!” Becca yells hoisting the shield above her head and letting out a screech. 

“Great job, squirt!” Bucky grins at her. “Carly, you want to play any games or do you think it’s time for the Ferris wheel, then lunch?” 

“I could eat,” Carly says shyly. Becca nods.    
  
“Ferris wheel and lunch it is,” Bucky says, herding the two kids towards the massive wheel. While they’re standing in line, Bucky pins their crowns to their heads so they won’t fall off. “If they’ve got seatbelts, wear ‘em, alright? Don’t rock the cart, try not to lean too far over the edge, and for Chrissakes, Becca, don’t scream at the top like you always do.”

“I make no promises,” Becca says solemnly. Bucky groans and noogies her. “Quit it!” She squawks, ducking away. 

As they get closer to the front of the line, Bucky can hear someone arguing with the park employee. “Look man, I just wanna get on the wheel, c’mon, help a guy out.”

“Sorry pal,” the employee says, “No can do. Two people to a cart, park policy. I can only let you on if you find someone else to ride with you.” 

The guy arguing turns around, searching the line frantically, and Bucky stops breathing. It’s Cute Guy. He swallows, and of course, Becca notices. She follows his eyeline and sees Cute Guy looking around, and then she looks back at Bucky and grins evilly. “Becca, don’t you dare -” Bucky starts.

“Hey! Blondie! Over here!” She shouts, drawing Cute Guy’s attention. “My brother needs a buddy too, wanna join him?” Cute Guy looks Bucky up and down and grins hopefully - and Bucky’s gone. He can’t say no to that face.

“Yeah, alright,” Bucky says. “You two gonna be okay without me?” He asks, turning to face the girls. 

“Yeah, Bucket, we’ll be fine,” Becca says impatiently. She shoos him away, saying, “Go, meet the love of your life.” 

Bucky groans and walks up to the front of the line, hopping into the cart with Cute Guy silently. “I’m Clint,” Cute Guy says as the cart starts moving.

“Guess that means I have to stop calling you Cute Guy in my head then,” Bucky says. And then he facepalms. “I am so sorry, I did not mean to say that out loud.”

“You think  _ I’m _ cute?” Clint says in disbelief.

“Well, yeah,” Bucky says, raising an eyebrow. “Have you seen yourself? You’re like my own personal wet dream come to life.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” Clint scoffs, “You practically ooze ‘fuck me’ energy.”

“It’s a talent,” Bucky sniffs haughtily, and Clint bursts into laughter. 

“Well, I’m sure you’re top of your class,” he says. 

“Bottom, actually,” Bucky says slyly, and Clint chokes on air. 

“Good to know,” he says after he’s recovered. “So, those two girls you were with. They your sisters or somethin’?”

“Only one of them,” Bucky says. “Becca, that’s the one with the sword, invited her friend Carly to come to the park with her, and I got wrangled in to be the chaperone.”

“What, they’re on a date?” Clint says. “Aren’t they a little young?”

“Yeah,” Bucky says, stretching his legs across the cart, “Becca’s thirteen, but she knows she likes girls. And I think Carly does too, considering she asked me if it was okay to think Becca was cute earlier.”

“That’s adorable,” Clint grins.

“Yeah, they’re pretty cute. Becca won them a pair of crowns at one of the games earlier and she’s working on getting a full armoury. Already got the sword and shield.”

“She must be pretty good at those games, then.”

Bucky shrugs. “She’s alright. Nothing compared to me, though,” he grins. 

“Yeah?” Clint raises an eyebrow. “Bet I could beat you.”

“Oh, is that so?” Bucky asks, leaning forward in delight. This guy is ticking  _ all _ of Bucky’s boxes.

“Yeah, it is,” Clint says challengingly. 

“Well then, Clint,” Bucky says, “I hereby challenge you to a contest of skill. I win, you go on a date with me.”

Clint sucks in a gasp of surprise, then grins. “Deal. And if I win?”

Bucky leans back, putting his entire body on display. He knows he has a good body, and he’s worked hard for it. He’s earned the right to show it off. “Dealer’s choice,” he purrs, smirking as Clint very obviously checks him out. 

“I’m in,” Clint says, holding out his hand. Bucky shakes it firmly. “I should probably know your name for when I congratulate you in my victory speech,” Clint says dryly. 

Bucky facepalms again. “It’s Bucky. I’m usually so much better at this, I swear.”

“You seem to be doing fine to me,” Clint says softly, and Bucky blushes. “Where’d you get Bucky from?”

“My name is actually James Buchanan Barnes, but Becca called me Bucky when she was too little to say Buchanan, and it just... stuck.” He shrugs. “Never bothered me, so why not, right?”

“Why not indeed,” Clint says. Their cart reaches the top of the wheel and - just Bucky’s luck - the wheel stops. 

“Is it stuck or somethin’?” Bucky asks, peering over the edge. 

“I may have slipped the guy twenty bucks to stop the wheel for a minute when we got to the top,” Clint says sheepishly. 

Bucky snorts. “And yet he wouldn’t let you on by yourself.”   
  
“I know, right?” Clint says in mock outrage. “Bribery used to get me so much further.” He clicks his tongue in mock disappointment. 

“So, why’d you stop it anyway?” Bucky asks, curious.

“I like being up high,” Clint shrugs. “It’s peaceful, not to mention I can see pretty far.”

Bucky looks out across the park and yeah, okay. He can see what Clint means. This high up, the noise of the park is quieter - still there, but just not as noticeable. “Yeah, I can see that.” They sit in comfortable silence for a bit, and then Bucky says, “Hey, shouldn’t we have started moving by now?”

Right as he says that, the wheel starts up again, bringing them closer to the ground. “Excellent timing,” Clint says, grinning.

“Well, timing is everything,” Bucky winks. They go around the wheel twice more before getting off, and Clint waits with Bucky for Becca and Carly. 

“Thanks for coming on the wheel with me,” Clint says suddenly. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“And miss seeing out on your gorgeous smile?” Bucky scoffs. “Not a chance.” Clint turns pink and grins at him. In a moment of either extreme bravery or extreme stupidity - Bucky’s not sure which - he blurts out, “Hey, you got anywhere else you need to be today? It’d be nice to have someone to hang out with while I watch the squirts.”

“You want me to help you chaperone your sister on her not-a-date?” Clint asks, raising an eyebrow. 

Bucky holds up his hands in self-defence. “Hey man, I ain’t doing this for you. Most of the rides here are meant for two or four people. You’d be doin’ me a favour by comin’ along.”

Clint grins. “Relax, I’m messing with you. Yeah, I’ll hang out with you. Been meaning to come to the carnival for a while anyway.”

“What, were you just going to leave after you rode the Ferris wheel?” Bucky asks sarcastically. Clint shrugs and grins sheepishly. “You were, weren’t you,” Bucky says in disbelief. “Did you not know about the two-person rule, or were you just hoping that some poor schmuck would see your sad face and take pity on you?”

Clint bumps his shoulder. “Worked, didn’t it?”

“Shut up,” Bucky grumbles, feelings his cheeks heat. 

“Bucket!” Bucky glances up to see Becca and Carly walking towards them, hand in hand.

“Squirt, Tiny,” he greets them. Jerking his head at Clint, he says, “This is Clint. He’s gonna be joining us today so I have someone to complain about you with behind your back.” Clint stiffens beside him.

“Well, now we both have someone to do that with,” Becca says cheerily, tilting her head towards Carly. 

“I’d rather not,” Carly says hesitantly. 

“Aw, Tiny, we’re just kiddin’,” Bucky says, “Me ‘n’ Becca don’t do that stuff anyway. Love each other too much for that.” He pulls Becca into a headlock and she shrieks, slapping at his hands.

“Bucket, off!” She shouts, squirming in his grip. 

“Not ‘til you tell me you love me!” Bucky cries, winking at Clint. 

“Ugh, fine!” Bucky loosens his grip a little. “I love you. Can you let me go now?” 

Bucky lets her go and pretends to sob, burying his face in his hands. “I love you too, squirt, so much!”

“Loser,” Becca mutters, straightening her shirt. 

“Excuse me?” Bucky says, lifting his head. He lunges at Becca and she squeals in joyful terror, grabbing Carly’s hand and running away, weaving through the crowd. “Don’t go too far!” Bucky shouts after them. He starts walking in the direction Becca ran and Clint falls into step beside him. 

“Should you be letting them run off like that?” Clint asks, worry in his voice.

“Probably not,” Bucky says, shrugging. “But anyone who tries to fuck with ‘em will change their mind real fast. Becca’s been trained in martial arts since she was six. And she can scream so loud we’d be able to hear her on the other side of the park.” Clint doesn’t look reassured, so Bucky nudges him and says, “Besides, she has a sword.”

That does it. Clint cracks a grin at him. “Well, if she has a sword,” he says. Bucky spots Becca jumping up and down, waving at them, as she stands in front of a hot dog stand.

“Bucket!” She shouts. “We gotta get a hot dog!”

“You know Ma doesn’t like you eating that stuff,” Bucky says.

Becca scoffs. “Because I always do what Ma says, right?”

Bucky grins. “Alright. Tiny, you want one?”

“Can I have pizza instead?” Carly asks hesitantly.

“Sure,” Bucky shrugs. “Pizza or dog, Clint?”

“You don’t gotta buy me anything,” Clint says, looking shocked.

“Sure I do,” Bucky says easily, “You’re sticking around for the day to help me keep these two in line. Least I can do is buy you lunch.”

“I don’t wanna impose -” Clint starts.

“You aren’t. Promise. I want to do this.”

“If you’re sure.”

Bucky grins “I am. Pizza or dog?”

“I never say no to some pizza,” Clint says quietly, like he thinks Bucky’s going to change his mind.

“Pizza it is, then.” Bucky buys Becca her hot dog and one for himself, then buys a whole pizza for Clint and Carly to share. They both like pepperoni and between the two of them they manage to finish the whole thing. “Damn, Tiny,” Bucky says, impressed, “You sure can pack it away.”

Carly burps loudly in response, and her hand flies to her mouth, a horrified expression on her face. “I- I’m so sorry,” she stutters. Bucky’s just about to wave it off when beside him, Becca lets out a belch twice as loud as Carly’s.

“What?” She says when they all look at her. 

“Five out of ten,” Bucky says, and then he holds up a finger. Two seconds later, he lets a monster burp loose. It lasts a full eight seconds, and when it’s over, he stands and takes a bow to no one’s applause. “Thank you, thank you. I was going for length, not loudness.”

“Solid seven out of ten,” Becca says seriously, nodding. Carly, Becca, and Bucky all turn to look at Clint, who just stares at them, half a slice of pizza hanging out of his mouth. 

“Wha?” He asks through the slice. 

“You gotta burp,” Carly urges him. “We did, so you gotta!”

Clint shrugs, swallows his pizza and lets loose the loudest, longest burp that Bucky has ever heard. It lasts way longer than his, and (and this is the kicker) fucking  _ echoes _ off the goddamn buildings around them. They stare at him in awe, and he smiles sheepishly. 

“I’m in love,” Bucky says stupidly. 

Becca snorts at him. “Of course  _ that’s _ what makes you fall in love with him. Boys are gross.”

“Agreed,” says Carly, and the two of them get up to throw out their trash.

“That kinda hurt, actually,” Clint says, wincing. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you tore the back of your throat open,” Bucky says.

“I can’t tell if the taste in my mouth is pepperoni and tomato sauce or blood,” Clint says thoughtfully. 

“That’s a little worrying.” Bucky tosses their garbage into a nearby bin. “You still game for our little wager?” He wiggles his eyebrows. 

“I thought we were gonna go on some rides,” Becca says, startling Bucky. He jumps and glares at her. “Sorry,” she says. “You said we could go on rides after lunch.”

“I’m game for rides,” Clint says when Bucky looks at him. “You guys ever been on the Drop Zone?” They get up and start walking towards the bigger rides. Clint and Becca are almost bouncing in excitement as they walk, Bucky and Carly following behind them at a more sedate pace.

“Bucky?” Carly asks. 

“What’s up, Tiny?”

“When was the first time you kissed someone?”

“Hmmm,” Bucky says carefully, “You know, I don’t actually remember? I think it was when I was around fifteen, though.”

“Did you like it?”

“Nah.” Bucky snorts when Carly looks at him in surprise. “Look, Tiny, first kisses are almost always bad. Neither of you knows what you’re doing and everyone you’ve asked has said something different. Honestly, my first kiss was probably a nightmare, anyway, so I’m kind of glad I don’t remember it.” Of course, he was also pretty drunk at the time, not to mention it was mostly an accident. But she doesn’t need to know that.

“Oh,” Carly says, her voice small.

“Hey,” Bucky says, nudging her, “The nice thing about first kisses is that they’re  _ first _ kisses. You’ll have tons of time to practice, if you want to do that, and maybe the person you kissed will even wanna practice with you!”

“That’s true,” Carly says. “I think Becca’s getting impatient.” Bucky looks ahead and sees Becca bouncing impatiently on her toes, standing next to an awkward looking Clint. 

“Been here long?” Bucky jokes as they walk up.

“You’re slow, Bucket! I wanna go on the ride!” Becca whines, grabbing Bucky’s hand and pulling him towards the start of the line.

“Hang on a minute, Becs, it’s not goin’ anywhere.” Bucky turns his head to look at Clint and Carly - the latter of which has gone bone white looking up at the Drop Zone. “Hey, Carly, you okay?”

“It’s very high,” she says, “I didn’t know it would be that high.”

“You don’t gotta go on it,” says Becca, looking concerned, “Not if you don’t wanna.”

“I don’t wanna ruin it!” Carly says.

“You won’t,” Bucky says, and he plops down on the bench next to their little group. “I’m not goin’ on it either. Becca, Clint - you two mind spendin’ some quality time together?”

“Only if he promises to scream,” Becca sniffs. 

Clint snorts. “I can promise you, I  _ will _ be screaming.” He nods at Bucky, wordlessly promising him to keep his little sister safe, and the two of them walk towards the line, already exchanging banter.

“You think Becca will be mad I didn’t wanna go on it?” Carly asks.

Bucky shakes his head. “She knows that heights bother some people. She doesn’t like really loud music or flashing lights either, so she understands that not everybody likes every ride.”

“You promise she won’t be mad?” Carly says, twisting her shirt.

“Pinky swear,” Bucky says, holding out his pinky. Carly studies him, then wraps her pinky around his tightly. “Besides, there will be plenty of other rides we can all go on,” Bucky says when she lets go.

“Like the teacups?” Carly says excitedly.

“Like the teacups!” Bucky points at her. “I knew I liked you.” A little blush rises on her cheeks and Bucky grins, settling back into the bench and watching the line move forward. “Hey, I think they’re getting on!” He can see Clint’s head bobbing above the crowd as he gets strapped into the seat.

“Woah,” Carly breathes as the ride starts going up. It gets to the top and the passengers are so small, Bucky can barely tell there are people on the ride anymore. The ride drops and Bucky snickers as he hears Becca’s screams get louder as they get to the bottom. “Is that Becca?” Carly asks, astonished.

“Yeah,” Bucky laughs, “She’s got a helluva pair of lungs on her, right?” Carly nods, speechless, and Bucky watches for Becca and Clint as the ride empties.

“We could hear you from here!” Carly blurts as soon as they’re within hearing distance. 

“That was Clint!” Becca shouts joyfully, and when Bucky turns to Clint (whose red face only confirms it) he bursts into laughter, doubling over and laughing so hard he nearly cries. 

“Yeah, yeah, yuck it up,” Clint mutters, blushing fiercely.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude,” Bucky says, still snickering. “I just wouldn’t have thought that you would’ve screamed like that.”

Clint grins at him. “And what, pray tell, would you have thought my screams sounded like?” 

Bucky blinks. Now his head is full of what Clint’s screams could’ve sounded like - and none of them are from a rollercoaster. He clears his throat. “Y’know. Manly. Hoarse. Deep. That sort of thing.”

Clint hums, smirking and Bucky bumps his shoulder. “Manly,” Clint says, “Right.” 

“C’mon, Carly wants to do the teacups!” Becca says loudly. 

“Hang on, we gotta be strategic about this,” Clint says, and he pulls a map and a marker out of his back pocket and spreads it out over a nearby table. “See, we’re here now, and the teacups are all the way past the waterpark.” He makes two little dots on the map. “If we wanna maximize ride-time, then we gotta have a plan.”

He keeps planning their route through the park to the teacups, with Becca and Carly occasionally chiming in, and Bucky just watches him while he does it. He talks with his hands, Bucky notices, which is probably why he’s got streaks of marker on his shirt. He actually  _ listens _ to Becca and Carly’s ideas, which is more than Bucky can say for most people their age.

Clint looks up and catches Bucky watching him, gives him a little smile, and goes back to planning out their route. He didn’t seem all that put out over being watched, so Bucky’s going to keep doing it. He runs his eyes over Clint’s tall frame, starting at the tips of his messy hair. It’s blond, and it looks like someone has just run their hands through it multiple times. Who knew sort-of-sex-hair-but-not-really did it for Bucky?

Clint’s hearing aids are nestled snugly over his ears, bright purple in colour. They suit Clint, complimenting his personality in some weird way. He’s wearing a grey sweater with a red star on the shoulder that’s just slightly too big for him and black skinny jeans that hug the curve of his ass  _ just so _ . Bucky is going to send a thank you letter to whoever made those jeans. 

There are a few little bracelets on Clint’s wrist, just colourful bands wrapped around one of the nicest forearms that Bucky has ever seen. He kind of wants Clint to take off his sweater so he can see what’s underneath - but then he would be deprived of the adorableness that is Clint in an overlarge sweater. 

Becca sneezes and it snaps Bucky out of his reverie, just seconds before Clint looks up at him and says, “Sound good to you, Buckaroo?”

Bucky scrunches up his nose. “Sounds great. Shall we get moving? We’re burning daylight here people!” Clint laughs and folds up the map, tucking it back into his pocket, then falls into step beside Bucky, their shoulders bumping every few steps. 

“So,” Clint smirks. “How much of that did you actually catch?”

Bucky considers bluffing, but - “None.” He shrugs. “I was busy.”

Clint snorts. “Bucky, the only thing you were doing was looking at me.” Bucky says nothing, and Clint’s eyes widen. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Bucky smiles sheepishly, “Sorry. I figured there was no harm in it - you already know I think you’re attractive.”

“I thought you were kidding,” Clint says in disbelief.

Bucky snorts. “Nope. I really do think you’re the hottest thing at this amusement park, and that’s saying something.” He gestures up at the sky. “Sun’s really beatin’ down on us, huh?”

“Yeah, it is getting pretty hot,” Clint says - and then Bucky’s mouth goes dry as Clint strips off his sweater and ties it around his waist. His shirt rides up a teeny it, revealing a strip of smooth skin that Bucky wants to suck a mark into. Bucky drags his eyes up Clint’s ridiculously defined chest and over to his arms, which Bucky would very much like to see flexing with Clint’s hand in his hair as Clint thrusts into - Bucky coughs.

“Nice shirt,” he says in a strangled voice - what the fuck did Clint’s shirt even look like?

“This old thing?” Clint says in confusion as he looks down at his purple - duh, Bucky, you moron - t-shirt. “It’s nothing special.”

“Uh-huh,” Bucky mumbles, distracted by a bead of sweat rolling down Clint’s neck. He wants to lick it up. “Y’know, that’s unfair.”

“What is?” Clint is so confused, it’s adorable. Bucky wants to eat him up.

Bucky gestures vaguely at Clint’s whole... Thing. “That,” he says, “You with the sweater and the arms and the -  _ you _ .”

“Uh,” Clint says, and he looks very uncomfortable.

Bucky winces. “Sorry,” he offers, “I can stop if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Clint waves his hands. “Not uncomfortable, just - I don’t really know how to deal with it? Not like I’ve got options beating down my door.”

“I’d knock first,” Bucky says, and then he facepalms.  _ Really _ , Barnes? ‘I’d knock first?’  _ That’s  _ the best you can do? Bucky is ashamed of himself.

“Good to know,” Clint says, and Bucky locks eyes with him - and then they’re both laughing. “I’m sorry,” Clint wheezes, “I don’t mean to laugh, but -”

“No, that was fucking awful!” Bucky says, snorting. “I’d knock first, what kinda nonsense - c’mon. Terrible.”

“It was pretty bad,” Clint grins. His face does a Thing with a capital T, and then he says tentatively, “I’d probably let you in.”

“Yeah?” Bucky breathes, watching a blush rise on Clint’s cheeks.

“Yeah,” Clint nods, and Bucky’s fingers twitch, brushing against Clint’s. They both look down and Clint’s hand moves towards Bucky’s hesitantly, brushing more substantially against Bucky’s pinky finger. 

_ Fuck it _ , Bucky thinks, and he wraps Clint’s hand in his, slotting their fingers together. “Okay?” He asks softly, looking up at Clint, and Clint looks up at him, eyes wide, and nods.

“ _ Very  _ okay,” Clint says, a blush rising on his cheeks that Bucky’s sure matches his own. They walk in silence, glancing at each other periodically - Bucky likes that every time his eyes glance over to Clint, they’re met with Clint’s eyes. By the time they reach the first ride on their List, Bucky’s ears are on fire - and it isn’t because he forgot to put sunscreen on them. 

“Bucket!” Becca cries, bouncing up to them. “Can we go? Please?”

“It’s on the list, isn’t it?” Bucky says, ruffling her hair with his free hand. Becca screeches in joy and runs off towards the line, dragging Carly along behind her. 

“She’s cute,” Clint says fondly.

Bucky snorts. “You just haven’t seen her right after she wakes up yet.” They get into the line, standing in the blazing sun still holding hands. Bucky’s palm is getting kind of sweaty, but he really doesn’t want to let go of Clint’s hand because what if he lets go and Clint takes it the wrong way and thinks that Bucky doesn’t want to hold his hand anymore?

“How bad is she?” Clint says, the corner of his mouth curling up.

Bucky shrugs. “If you don’t look at her, talk to her, or even acknowledge she exists, then she’s fine. If you do any of those things, then she will rip off your head and shove it up your ass - and then she’ll expect you to apologize to her.”

Clint blinks. “Damn.” The line moves forward slightly, and Bucky adjusts his grip on Clint’s hand. “I mean,” Clint continues, “I’m a bit of a zombie before I get my coffee, but mostly of the braindead rambling kind, not the ‘will eat your brains’ kind.”

“I bet you’re adorable,” Bucky coos, squeezing Clint’s hand. 

“Am not!” Clint cries, pouting. “I’m a lean, mean, fighting machine!” He glares down at Bucky, and Bucky has trouble holding in his laughter.

“I’m sure you are, Clint,” Bucky says, his voice sounding a little choked.

“I am,” Clint protests weakly, slumping.

“Fighting machine,” Bucky agrees, “That’s you.” Clint pouts at him, cheeks pink, and Bucky really just wants to kiss the blush off his cheeks - but there’s no way they’re ready for that. They met literally two hours ago. 

But it’s in Bucky’s plan. 

The line moves forward again, and Bucky and Clint find themselves at the front of the line in front of an impatiently bouncing Becca and Carly. “Bucket! There you are!” Becca says, lunging forward and grabbing his free hand. “The attendant dude says we’re too small to ride on our own so you and Clint gotta ride with us. You’re going with Carly because she knows you, hurry up and get in!”

She shoves Bucky towards the cart where Carly’s sitting, and Bucky stumbles forwards. The movement pulls his hand from Clint’s and despite the heat, Bucky’s hand feels cold without Clint’s warmth surrounding it. His eyes flick up to Clint’s and he can’t help the surge of relief he feels at the matching feeling of loss he can see in Clint’s eyes. “Come  _ on _ , Clint!” Becca says, pulling on Clint’s other arm. “We gotta go or they’re gonna start it without us!”

“Alright, alright,” Clint laughs, “Let’s go then!”

Bucky settles in next to Carly, clicking in his seatbelt and making sure that Carly’s is on properly as well, and then he realizes - he has no idea which ride they’re on. “What ride is this?” He asks Carly, and she giggles. 

“It’s the one that -” Her explanation is cut off when the ride shoots forwards, slamming Bucky’s head into the headrest behind him and squishing Carly’s little body into his side. 

Carly screams. Bucky screams. There’s a lot of screaming. About halfway through the ride, it switches directions and starts going backwards, and now Bucky has to focus on not letting gravity pull him to the other side of the cart and making him squish Carly. 

His screams morph into panicked laughter as he tries to keep the bulk of his body from squishing the tiny, fragile twelve-year-old sitting next to him, and by the time the ride comes to a stop, his shoulder and fingers ache from how tightly he locked them into place to keep himself from moving. 

“Heck,” Carly says, tumbling out of the cart with wide eyes. “That was crazy.”

“Agreed,” Bucky winces, rolling his shoulder, “Definitely should’ve come with a warning.”

“Does your shoulder hurt, Bucky?” Carly asks, worry in her voice. They head out the exit lane and Bucky sits down on a nearby bench, rubbing at his shoulder.

“A little,” Bucky says, “But it’s nothing I can’t handle. Don’t worry about it, okay?” 

She nods and he thinks that’s that, but then Becca and Clint walk up, still breathless and laughing from the ride, and Carly blurts, “Bucky says his shoulder hurts!”

“Warm or cold?” Becca asks immediately, and she glares at Bucky when he tries to protest.

“Cold,” Bucky sighs, and Becca grabs Carly and runs off to go find him something cold.

“You alright?” Clint asks warily.

Bucky shrugs, then winces. “Ow. Yeah, I’ll be fine. The g-force on that thing would’ve made me squish Carly so I had to hold myself still. It wasn’t exactly easy.”

“Yeah, they should put a warning on it or something,” Clint says, plopping down next to him. “Or at least put the people in actual seats, and not just a cart.” Bucky nods silently and presses his thumb into a particularly sore spot. He huffs out a breath of pain, and then suddenly there’s a pair of hands on his shoulder that aren’t his. He jumps and Clint leans back, hands up and says, “Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you, I just know my way around sore muscles. I’ve had a few in my day.”

“It’s okay,” Bucky says, and he tilts his shoulder towards Clint in an obvious invitation. “You’ll probably do a better job with two hands than I can do with one.” Clint snorts, but doesn’t comment and just puts his hands on Bucky’s shoulder. His fingers massage the sore spots, digging in with just the right amount of pressure and before Bucky realizes, he’s practically a puddle in Clint’s lap. “You’re good at this,” he mutters, eyes drifting shut.

“Told you,” Clint says wryly, pressing into Bucky’s shoulder deeply, “Lots of sore muscles in my day.” Bucky lets out a half-moan as Clint’s thumb hits an especially sore spot and Clint’s hands pause momentarily. “Becca’s coming,” Clint says quietly, letting his hands withdraw, and Bucky pulls himself up, shaking his head a few times to get rid of the haze of relaxation Clint’s massage put him in. 

“Bucket!” Becca cries, running up to them holding a large slushie. “They didn’t have an ice pack so I just got you a slushie!”

“Thanks, squirt,” Bucky says, grinning, and he grabs the slushie and sighs in relief as the chill of the frozen treat sinks into his shoulder. “Perfect,” he mutters. 

“Do we have to leave?” Becca asks.

“Nah,” Bucky says, reaching out and ruffling her hair, “I’ll just skip the next ride or two, give my shoulder a break, but we can stay, don’t worry about that.”

Becca and Carly cheer loudly, and when Bucky stands up and gives them a little push to send them off towards the next ride, Clint stands with him and entwines their fingers once again. “Still okay?” He checks.

Bucky nods. “ _ Very _ okay,” he grins, giving Clint’s hand a little squeeze. Clint squeezes back and they start walking towards the ride that Becca and Carly had run off to. 

“How’s your shoulder?” Clint asks, bumping Bucky’s arm.

“Achey,” Bucky admits, “The slushie is helping, though.” He takes a quick sip of the drink, wincing as the ice crystals pass his teeth. 

“You mind?” Clint asks, nodding towards the drink. Bucky shakes his head and offers it up, but instead of taking it from his hand, Clint just leans over and wraps his lips around the straw. Bucky clears his throat and looks away, desperately trying to not pop a boner in the middle of the amusement park.

“Any good?” Bucky asks when Clint pulls away. They come to a stop in front of the ride Becca and Carly are on and lean against a fence.

Clint licks his now cherry-red lips and grins at Bucky. “Not bad, actually. Could use a longer straw for me to wrap my mouth around.”

_ I’ll give you something to wrap your mouth around, _ Bucky doesn’t say. “They’ve got novelty straws at the gift shop,” he offers, “They’re like eight bucks apiece, though.”

“Hm,” Clint says, eyeing Bucky, “Maybe before we leave.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Bucky says, and he has to clear his throat again when Clint licks his lips and Bucky sees his stained tongue dart out from between said lips. He has a really nice mouth, Bucky thinks absently, and then he snaps himself out of it before Clint notices him staring.

“Is it an old injury?” Clint asks. Bucky stares at him uncomprehendingly. “Your shoulder,” he clarifies.

“Uh, yeah,” Bucky grimaces, “Got into a pretty bad car accident a while back, came out with a busted arm and a totalled car. It’s not something I like to talk about.”

“Okay,” Clint says easily, “What’s your favourite ride at the park?”

Bucky blinks. “The dragon one, for sure,” he says slowly.

“Oh, cool! The one near the teacups, right?” Clint asks, smiling. “I like that one too. We can go on it when we get there, yeah?” 

“Only if you’ll sit with me,” Bucky blurts, and he winces at himself. But then Clint grins at him and nods, eyes sparkling, and Bucky feels less like a moron. “Cool,” he breathes, and he finds himself swaying towards Clint slightly - they get closer and closer, almost close enough that Bucky can nearly feel Clint’s breath on his face, and then -

“Bucket!” They jerk apart as Becca screams out her ridiculous nickname for him, and Bucky has to take a moment to rearrange his man-brain to his brother-brain.

“Squirt!” He cries, making a face at her. “You two have fun?”

“I like fast rides!” Carly declares, and Becca nods enthusiastically. “Makes my tummy get the spins!”

“The spins are always fun,” Clint says solemnly, and Bucky feels his heart skip a beat at the way both Carly and Becca are staring up at him adoringly. “Now, whaddaya say we scoot over to the next ride, hmm? Me an’ Bucket here are gettin’ restless, waiting for you two adrenaline junkies all the time.”

“How’s your shoulder, Bucket?” Becca asks, concern filling her little face. 

“Almost back to normal, Becs,” Bucky assures her, “Promise. One more ride and then I’ll be good to go, okay?”

“Okay,” Becca says. She skips ahead with Carly, towing her along to the next ride on their list.

“You don’t gotta stay with me,” Bucky says softly as Clint leads him over to a bench in front of the ride, “You can go on the ride with the girls if you wanna.”

“What, and miss out on all this?” Clint says, gesturing to him. “I would never.”

“I don’t wanna make you feel like -”

“Bucky,” Clint says, putting his free hand on Bucky’s arm, “I wouldn’t stay if I didn’t want to, alright? I’m okay right here.”

Bucky searches his face for any hint that he’s lying, but he finds only acceptance. “If you’re sure,” he relents. 

Clint nods. “Sure as I’ve ever been,” he says, smiling at Bucky softly. They sit in comfortable silence on the bench, watching Becca and Carly scream and laugh on the roller coaster. Clint starts getting twitchy around the two-minute mark, and Bucky assumes that the fidgeting is due to the silence.

“When Becca asked me to come to the park today,” he starts, and Clint’s twitching ceases almost immediately, “I almost said no.” He shrugs. “Didn’t really want to spend a day watching my sister and one of her annoying friend's shriek and giggle and do all the nonsense that young girls do when they’re together.”

“What made you change your mind?” Clint asks, turning his body towards Bucky. 

“My ma,” Bucky says dryly. “She threatened to make me wash dishes after our next three big family meals if I didn’t go.”

“Ah, intimidation and fear,” Clint nods sagely, “Always a decent tactic.”

“Yeah,” Bucky sighs. He gives Clint a little nudge, turning to face him fully. “I’m really glad she made me do this.”

“Remind me to thank her when I meet her,” Clint jokes.

“I’m sure she’ll love that,” Bucky grins, and he doesn’t really understand why Clint turns to him with a strange look on his face. That is, until he realizes that he said that like it was already a given that Clint would be meeting his parents. He could try to recover, maybe say something else - but honestly? He does want Clint to meet his parents. 

He wants the whole awkward ‘meeting the family’ dinner where his parents embarrass him and show his baby pictures, and Clint charms them into loving him - not that he’d need to, Bucky’s sure that they’d love him the second he does that thing where he blushes and smiles, all ‘aw shucks’ and country, and runs his hand through his hair.

So he doesn’t try to awkwardly fumble his way through a recovery, just lifts his shoulder in a little half-shrug and gives Clint a soft little smile, like he’s saying  _ yeah, I meant that _ . And if Clint grins at him, all soft and shy, bumps his shoulder and then stays put, the warm line of his arm pressing into Bucky’s, well. That’s just between the two of them.

Afterwards, when Becca and Carly are bemoaning the heat and trying to convince Bucky to buy them ice cream, and Clint is laughing along and teasing Bucky as he whines about the prices (“Aw, c’mon  _ old man _ , buy the kids some ice cream!”) he rolls his shoulder as he walks back towards their little group and finds that all the pain is gone.

“Alright, you pains,” he announces, handing over their cones, “My shoulder’s all better, so what d’you say we go on some rides, huh?” Becca and Carly cheer, and Clint just grins at him, beaming and happy, hair shining in the sunlight. “You have freckles,” Bucky says in surprise, and he doesn’t really think before he grabs Clint’s chin and tilts his face this way and that, trying to count all of the little dots. 

“Happens when I’m out in the sun,” Clint says, sounding choked. He swallows, and Bucky follows the bob of his throat with his eyes, flicking his gaze back up to meet Clint’s. “See somethin’ you like?” Clint asks, smirking - but Bucky can see the desire plain in his eyes and in the flush on his cheeks (although that might be sunburn - did Clint put on sunscreen?).

“Yes,” Bucky says simply, letting go of Clint’s face, and he doesn’t understand why Clint’s eyes widen, like Bucky’s just said something completely unbelievable. 

Clint breathes a soft “ _ Oh,” _ and his hand tightens on Bucky’s - just a fraction, but enough that Bucky notices. Bucky squeezes back, letting Becca and Carly run ahead, licking at their cones and laughing, darting from patch of shade to patch of shade. It’s cooling off slightly as the day passes by, and Bucky absently notes that the park is putting on a water acrobatics show near where they are now. 

“Hey,” Bucky says, tilting his chin towards the sign, “You think the girls would like to see that?”

Clint scans the sign, a smile growing on his face. “It does sound pretty cool,” he admits, and Bucky nods. He waves his free arm at Becca and she nods, turning to say something to Carly and then they’re both heading back towards him.

Once they get closer, Bucky says, “This somethin’ you’d be interested in seeing?” Both girls erupt into squeals as they read the sign and turn to Bucky, begging him to go see it. “Alright, alright,” Bucky laughs, “Let’s go grab a seat then, it’s starting soon.” It’s funny, how into seeing the show Becca seems, but water acrobatics  _ do _ sound pretty cool.

They manage to snag a seat relatively close to the fence bordering the lake, and Bucky pulls Clint down next to him - fully intending to pull the old ‘yawn-and-wrap’ that he used to see in old movies. But before he can, Clint untangles their fingers, yawns and stretches, then wraps his arm around Bucky’s shoulder in an imitation of the exact move that Bucky was planning to pull.

“Are you kidding me?” Bucky complains, and Clint goes to remove his arm but Bucky grabs his hand, forcing him to stay put.

“I can not do this,” Clint offers, still pulling slightly at Bucky’s hand.

“No, no, it’s not that,” Bucky assures him, and Clint’s (very nice) arm relaxes in his grip. “It’s just that I was planning to pull the exact thing, but you did it first.” Clint starts to laugh, and after a moment Bucky does too, overcome with mirth at their similarities. They eventually taper off into snickers, and Bucky relaxes into the solid line of Clint’s body slightly behind his. 

Oh. Shit. They’re cuddling. Bucky comes to that realization when he squishes himself further into Clint’s space even though it’s hot enough outside that the  _ last _ thing he wants to do is be close to another person right now, and yet the  _ only _ thing he wants to do is be close to Clint.

Clint’s thumb is rubbing little circles on Bucky’s bicep and he’s finding it hard to focus on anything else - at least until he looks up at the sound of Becca’s shriek and realizes that they’re sitting right in the designated Splash Zone for the show (which is somehow half over, has it really been half an hour already?), and that two of the performers are heading right for them - carrying with them a huge wave of water.

Bucky doesn’t even think before he tugs out of Clint’s grasp and swings onto his lap, hands coming up and cupping Clint’s ears, blocking his hearing aids from the majority of the water - which, incidentally, lands directly on him, soaking him thoroughly. As soon as there’s no more danger to Clint’s aids, Bucky carefully removes his hands and climbs off of Clint, all too aware that Clint stiffened up as soon as Bucky put his hands near Clint’s ears. 

“I’m really sorry,” he apologizes, wincing - because he  _ knows _ that touching someone’s assistive technology without permission is a  _ massive _ taboo, and it doesn’t help that he did exactly that while also encroaching on Clint’s personal space. “I didn’t want them to get wet.”

Clint is silent next to him, and the tension in Bucky’s shoulders ratchets up, undoing all of the work that Clint’s gifted hands had done earlier that day. They sit in silence, Bucky’s shoulders hitching closer and closer to his ears until he looks like a turtle. “Hey,” Clint says, his voice breaking through the tension, “I understand you didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Still, it wasn’t cool of me to just  _ do that _ ,” Bucky argues - why is he arguing?

“No, it wasn’t,” Clint agrees, “But let’s agree that you won’t do it again, and I’ll forgive you this time because you just wanted to save me from wet hearing aids.”

“If you’re sure,” Bucky relents, and  _ seriously _ \- why is he arguing?! Clint is trying to forgive him! 

“I’m sure,” Clint says, knocking Bucky’s shoulder with his. “You’re my knight in shining arm-”

“Bucket!” Becca screeches, and she flops down on Bucky’s legs - then leaps up again, squealing in disgust. “Why are you all wet?” She shouts.

“He saved me from a water dragon,” Clint says solemnly. 

Becca squints at him for a few seconds before declaring cautiously, “Liar.”

“Am not!” Clint cries, and he scoops her up and tickles her mercilessly until she’s begging for mercy. 

“Alright, alright!” Bucky says, pulling Becca away from Clint, “You’re going to make her puke, she had way too much cotton candy to be hung upside down like that.”

Clint laughs at him and flops down next to him, head perilously close to Bucky’s thigh. “Hey,” he says suddenly. 

“Hi,” Bucky says, amused.

“Didn’t you challenge me to a shooting competition?” Clint asks, craning his neck to see Bucky properly.

“When we were on the Ferris Wheel, yeah,” Bucky says. He waves his hand. “You don’t gotta take me up on that, I was only joking.”

“Too bad,” Clint says slyly, “I was looking forward to my prize.”

Bucky scoffs. “Like you would win.”

“Ex _ cuse _ you,” Clint says, putting a hand to his heart in mock-offence, “I would  _ so _ win.”

“Wanna bet?” Bucky breathes, getting in Clint’s face. 

“We already did, Buck-Buck,” Clint says, smirking.

“Well then,” Bucky sweeps his arm towards the arcade magnanimously, standing up and bowing at the waist, “After you, good sir.”

“Why  _ thank _ you, kind sir,” Clint sniffs pompously, and he saunters past Bucky, nose in the air. It lasts for about three seconds before he’s snorting and Bucky’s laughing right along with him.

“You two gonna be alright for a bit?” Bucky asks, turning to face Becca and Carly.

“Yeah, we’ll be okay,” Becca nods, “There’s a show in a bit that Carly wanted to see anyway, so we’ll be over by that tree.”

“Don’t move from that spot unless you’re with each other, alright?” Bucky says. “Me ‘n’ Clint are just in the arcade if you need us.”

“We know, Bucket,” Becca says, rolling her eyes, “Go have fun on your date!” She shoves him towards the arcade and her and Carly disappear before Bucky can say ‘it’s not a date!’ Bucky sighs and heads towards the arcade where Clint’s waiting by the door. They buy themselves some tokens and wander for a bit, trying to find the perfect game for their competition.

“Archery?” Clint offers innocently.

Bucky snorts. “With those forearms? Not a chance, sweetheart.” Clint flushes at the pet name and Bucky smirks, tucking that little tidbit away for later. They eventually settle on an old-school shooting game - one of the ones where you have to kill zombies, with shitty sound effects and even shittier graphics.

“Brains don’t look like that,” Clint comments absently after he makes a zombie's head explode.

“How would you know what brains look like?” Bucky challenges, taking out two zombies from above.

“I’m a cannibal,” Clint says, casual and calm. Bucky chokes and nearly turns to look at him, then narrows his eyes and refocuses on the game, killing the three zombies Clint would’ve been able to steal had he looked away.

“Cheater,” he accuses.

“You never said we had to play fair!”

“It was implied!” Bucky rolls his eyes. Fine. If Clint wants to play dirty, then so will he. He shuffles his feet, positioning them so that his thigh brushes up against Clint’s whenever he takes a particularly violent shot, and he starts letting out little grunts whenever he pulls the trigger. He can feel Clint’s gaze on his face but he resolutely stares at the screen and keeps firing. “ _ Fuck _ yes,” he mutters lowly, nailing a zombie right between the eyes. “Right  _ there _ !”

The game comes to a close, their names flashing on the screen.

**JBB - 34 POINTS** **CFB - 35 POINTS**

“Well shit?” Bucky says in disbelief.

“I won?” Clint asks, equally as shocked. “Of course I won,” he tries to recover. “I’m the World’s Greatest Marksman, baby!”

“You were just as shocked as I was,” Bucky grumbles, dropping the shitty plastic gun back onto the hook. 

“Nah,” Clint says, shaking his head, “That was mostly just for your sake. Can’t be too cocky.”

Bucky grins. “Speaking of  _ cocky _ ,” he purrs, sidling up to Clint, “What would you like for your prize, Mr. World’s Greatest Marksman?”

Clint stares at him. Blinks once. Twice. Three times. “Coffee!” Bucky jerks back from the force of his shout. “Uh, yeah. Coffee. With you. And me. Together. I want that.” Clint smiles sheepishly and runs a hand through his hair - does he seriously not know how attractive that makes him? With the muscles and the ‘aw shucks’ grin - goddammit.

Now it’s Bucky’s turn to blink.”Coffee?” He says. Clint nods. “Like, as a date? Or...” Bucky says slowly, trailing off into nothing. 

Clint’s eyes widen. “Yes!” He shouts. “Uh, yes. Like a date. With me.” He coughs into his hand. Looking up at Bucky through his eyelashes (how he manages that, being a few inches taller than him, Bucky has no idea), he says hesitantly, “Is that okay?”

“More than okay,” Bucky assures him, “I’d be delighted to get coffee with you, Clint.”

“Good! Good,” Clint says, blushing and scuffing his shoe along the ground, “Because I also kind of want dinner? With you? And me? Also together?”

“Coffee  _ and _ dinner,” Bucky teases, “Ambitious, aren’t we?”

“Well, you don’t gotta,” Clint says, blushing something fierce, “It was just a suggestion, an’ I don’t wanna force you to -”

“Hey, hey!” Bucky catches Clint’s chin in his grasp and tugs, forcing Clint to look at him. “I didn’t mean nothin’ by it, Clint, I’d be happy to go to dinner with you. Honest.”

“Yeah?” Clint breathes.

“Yeah,” Bucky nods. They sway closer to each other, and Bucky tilts his head up, reaching his face up towards Clint’s until they’re close enough that their lips are millimetres away from touching - and then someone bumps into Bucky from behind, sending him stumbling forward into Clint’s arms and smacking his face into Clint’s chest. “God  _ damn _ it!” Bucky mumbles into Clint’s chest, banging his forehead against the collarbone that is oh-so-nicely outlined by Clint’s purple shirt.

“Hey,” Clint says, tilting his face up, “We’ll get our chance.”

“We damn well better, or I’m gonna sue,” Bucky grumbles, and normally he’d be embarrassed about how desperately he obviously wants to kiss Clint, but he’s pretty sure (like ninety-nine percent) that the feeling is mutual, so. Take  _ that _ , emotions. Ha.

“Yeah?” Clint teases, taking Bucky’s hand. “Who’re you gonna sue, Buck? The park?”

“‘S’not like they can’t afford it,” Bucky grumps. 

“Just ‘cos they  _ can _ ,” Clint says sagely, “Doesn’t mean you  _ should _ .”

Bucky glares at him. “When did you get so smart?” He holds up a hand. “Don’t answer that - you’ve always been smart.” He puts a hand over Clint’s mouth, cutting off his response. “Shush, accept the compliment.” Clint licks him. Bucky narrows his eyes. “Accept. It.”

Clint rolls his eyes and Bucky lets go, removing his hand from Clint’s mouth. “Thank you, Bucky,” Clint says dutifully, and Bucky nods. 

“Always happy to compliment you, sweetheart,” he drawls, and that gets him the pleasure of watching Clint flush. “Such a pretty blush,” he teases, which only makes Clint go redder.

“Yeah, yeah,” Clint says, the tips of his ears turning red now, “I’m bad at taking compliments, I know.”

“Well, get used to ‘em,” Bucky says, “Because as long as I’m around, you’ll be getting a lot of them.” He winks at Clint, making the other man snort, and they move away from the arcade game to wander around a little bit. 

“You should probably know that I’ve got like twenty bucks to my name,” Clint says sheepishly, “So dinner won’t be fancy or nothin’.”

“I don’t need fancy,” Bucky says, “As long as we can play footsie under the table, I’m set.” Bucky grins at Clint, bumping his shoulder.

Clint’s eyes widen. “You want a  _ table _ ?”

Bucky laughs. “Nah,” he says smoothly, “All I need is you, sweetheart.”

Clint blushes again (making him blush is starting to become Bucky’s favourite activity). “Aren’t I supposed to be making you blush?” He grumbles.

“You can try,” Bucky offers, “But I don’t blush easy.”

“Bet I could fix that,” Clint leers. 

Bucky leers right back at him. “Give it your best shot, handsome.” Clint proceeds to shower Bucky in increasingly ridiculous compliments, from “Your smile is as bright as that ice cream cone we saw in the trash can a while back,” to “Your cheekbones could be used to cut a sandwich,” and then, finally, “Your ankle is the most delectable piece of manflesh on this continent!” 

That makes Bucky laugh so hard he can’t speak, and Clint has to push him over to a wall so they’re not blocking the walkway. “Manflesh?” Bucky chokes out through his laughter.

“I mean, you’re laughing,” Clint offers. 

“Because manflesh!” Bucky cries, breaking down again. Every time he starts to calm down, he looks up at Clint (who winks at him) and just - keeps laughing. He laughs so hard he cries, and then he laughs some more. After about ten minutes of nothing but laughter, Bucky has to turn himself away from Clint to try and pull himself together. He manages - just barely - and when he turns back to Clint, who has a wry smile on his face as he opens his mouth, Bucky slaps a hand over his mouth again. “Don’t!” He says sternly. 

Clint nods and Bucky removes his hand. Immediately, Clint grins and says, “Manflesh.”

This very nearly sets Bucky off again, but he manages to reign in his amusement. “We’re going to waste the whole day laughing if you don’t keep quiet about my manflesh, mister,” Bucky threatens.

“But it’s delectable!” Clint whines, and Bucky nearly chokes on his own tongue trying to keep himself from laughing. 

“Look pal,” he says, “You want to talk about my manflesh, fine. But it ain’t gonna be my ankle.” Clint blinks at him and his mouth widens into an ‘o’ - then his cheeks turn bright pink and Bucky snorts. “Wasn’t it supposed to be you making me blush, sweetheart?”

“Shut up,” Clint grumbles, giving Bucky a little shrug. “I’m bad at flirting. Clearly.”

“Aw, you ain’t so terrible,” Bucky says, slipping his hand into Clint’s. “Just need a little practice, that’s all.”

“Yeah? And who am I gonna practice on?” Clint challenges.

Bucky looks around comically and sighs. “I guess  _ I _ could volunteer for the job, but only if you don’t have anyone else in mind.”

Clint sighs theatrically. He pretends to contemplate Bucky’s offer for a few seconds. “Alright,” he finally says, acting like it’s an inconvenience. “I  _ guess _ I can practice my flirting on you.”

“Oh,  _ what _ a relief!” Bucky cries, throwing his hands up in the air and garnering quite a few odd looks. 

“Quiet, you dork!” Clint hisses, shoving his arms back down and snickering.

“Hey, I’m proud of my dorkiness pal,” Bucky says.

Clint wraps an arm around his shoulder, pulling Bucky in snug against his side and turns his head so that his mouth is beside Bucky’s ear. “You should be,” he murmurs. Bucky shivers as Clint’s breath tickles at his ear.

“See?” Bucky says weakly, “You’re not terrible at flirting.”

“Guess not,” Clint muses, and if he’s not gonna move his arm from around Bucky’s shoulder, then neither will Bucky, thank you very much. Clint keeps his arm around Bucky’s shoulders for as long as it takes them to find Becca and Carly again, and then he pulls it off. Before Bucky can say anything, Clint grabs his hand with a little glance at Bucky. Bucky squeezes his hand, beaming up at him, and Clint relaxes, fully tangling their fingers together.

“So, who won?” Becca asks as she comes bounding up to them, Carly trailing along behind her.

“Clint did,” Bucky grumbles.

“Well, I hope you asked him on a date as your prize,” Becca says, winking at Clint.

Clint snorts. “That I did, little lady, that I did.”

“Good,” Becca says, “Because I was getting sick of the pining.”

“Pining?” Bucky splutters, “We weren’t pining!”

“Well, I was,” Clint says offhandedly. Bucky blinks at him. “Just a little,” he amends after seeing Bucky staring. “What? You’re like,  _ exactly _ my type.”

“I am?” Bucky says, still reeling from finding out that Clint was  _ pining _ . For him. 

“Sure, with the hair and the face and the everything - you hit all my buttons, Bucky boy.” Clint gestures to Bucky’s whole body with their entwined hands.

“Well, you hit all my buttons too, sweetheart,” Bucky says, but he can feel the heat rising to his cheeks and he fervently hopes that -

“Are you blushing?” Clint says incredulously, squinting at his cheeks.

“Shut up, no I’m not,” Bucky grumbles, turning his face away. 

“You are, you totally are!” Clint crows in delight, pointing at Bucky’s face. “You’re blushing, you’re blushing, I made you blush!”

“Shaddap,” Bucky says, cheeks getting darker. He can feel the blush travelling down his neck - fuck, he really hates blushing.

“Wow, Clint,” Becca says, impressed, “Bucket only blushes when he  _ really  _ likes someone.”

“Becca!” Bucky hisses.

“What?” She shrugs, unrepentant. “It’s true.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t need to know that!” Bucky hisses, motioning towards Clint - who is ever so politely pretending that he can’t hear every word being hissed in front of him.

“Hey, Bucky, it’s alright,” Clint says softly, giving his hand a squeeze. “Nice to know the feeling’s mutual.” Bucky blinks at him. 

Okay, so on  _ some _ level he knew that Clint liked him. Obviously Clint liked him, or he wouldn’t have spent all day with him or held his hand or told him that ‘they’d get their chance’ or - so yeah. Clint liked him. Bucky knew that. But he hadn’t really  _ processed _ that Clint liked him. So forgive him for being a little brain dead as he processes. 

“Mutual,” he echoes blankly. 

Clint snickers. “Yeah, Buck. Mutual. I like you too. Really like you, in fact.” 

“Good to know,” Bucky says faintly, and suddenly he’s extremely aware of the heat of Clint’s hand in his. He’s equally as aware that the sun is starting to go down, which means that the colourful carnival lights that make up the borders of most of the rides and games at the park will be turning on. 

“We never went on the dragon ride,” Clint says suddenly. Bucky blinks. “Y’know, the one you said was your favourite? We were supposed to go on it when we got to the teacups, but then we got distracted - didn’t go on those, either.”

“Huh,” Bucky says thoughtfully, “You’re right.”

“That happens sometimes,” Clint says easily, smirking. 

“Squirt! Tiny! You wanna go on the teacups now?” Bucky asks, and Becca’s answering shriek makes him wince. 

“Let’s go, let’s go! C’mon Bucky! We gotta go!” Becca whines, pulling at Bucky’s arm to try and make him go faster. He purposefully slows down his pace to a meandering crawl, and his little sister growls in frustration. “Bucky!” 

“Alright, I’m goin’,” Bucky says, laughing as she pulls him along. “No need to get all huffy now, squirt.” He lets her pull him, and by proxy Clint, along until they reach the teacups and then he tugs his hand from her vice-like grip, wincing. “You girls want your own teacup? I don’t mind sharin’ with Clint.”

“Yes please!” Becca says, and her and Carly promptly sprint forward through the metal dividers that make up the line, screeching to a stop at the front and bouncing on their toes impatiently while they wait for the ride to stop.

“They’re excitable,” Clint notes as he and Bucky walk through the line at a much more sedate pace.

Bucky shrugs. “It’s all the sugar. In an hour, Becca will be grumpy and will want to go home.”

“It’ll be dark by then, right?” Clint asks, a calculating look on his face.

“Sure,” Bucky answers cautiously. “Why?”

Clint shrugs nonchalantly. “Thought we might stop by the Ferris Wheel before we go, finish this day off where we began.”

Bucky feels a little thrill run up his spine when Clint says that. His words and tone can only mean one thing, and it looks like Bucky will  _ finally _ be getting that kiss he’s been dying for all day. “That would be nice,” he coughs, heat filling his cheeks when he voice squeaks. 

Clint grins at him and grabs his hand, towing him along as the operator lets them onto the ride. “There’s a trick to this ride, see,” Clint says, examining each cup as they walk past it.

“Oh yeah?” Bucky says, amused.

Clint nods. “Yeah,” he says seriously, “You gotta find the one with the shiniest wheel in the middle, ‘cos that’s how you know people weren’t able to hold on tightly enough while they were spinning - there!” He pulls Bucky towards a teal cup, sliding in with a smile on his face. 

The operator comes around and double-checks their seatbelts, tugging at them and nodding blankly. “He looks like he’s enjoying his job,” Bucky murmurs, and Clint snorts out a laugh. 

“Working in a carnival’s no fun, Buck,” he says earnestly, and Bucky’s just about to ask him how he knows that when the ride gives a shrill screech and starts moving. 

“Wanna help me out here, Bucky?” Clint grunts. Bucky turns his head to face Clint to apologize - and promptly chokes on air. Clint’s biceps are straining as he works at the wheel that’ll make them spin, nearly bursting out of his t-shirt. Bucky’s mouth goes dry. 

“Sure,” he squeaks, grabbing onto the wheel. They work in tandem for a while, their cup spinning faster and faster until Bucky shouts “Now!” and they both let go and are immediately pressed back into the unforgiving walls of the teacup. 

Clint yells in laughter, tears streaming down his face, and reaches across the wheel. He latches onto Bucky’s hand, grinning at him. He opens his mouth, presumably to say something, but the wind and the speed at which they’re going snatch the sounds right out of his mouth before they can even form. He shrugs helplessly, grinning, and Bucky snorts. 

“Bucket!” Becca’s voice makes Bucky jump but by the time he manages to turn his head, she’s gone. Two seconds later, her and Carly come spinning by him and Clint, whooping and giggling as they spin themselves so fast Bucky’s a little worried they’re gonna be sick.

When the ride’s over, the four of them stumble off, laughing - and in Becca’s case, looking a little green around the edges. “You alright there, squirt?” Bucky asks, crouching down beside her.

“Tummy’s a little weird,” she mutters, breathing through her nose. 

“Can you grab her some water?” Bucky asks Clint, rubbing Becca’s back. Clint nods and jogs off, coming back moments later with water and some saltine crackers. “Where did you even find those?” Bucky asks, impressed. 

Clint shrugs bashfully. “Bein’ a carnie means I know all their tricks, and they didn’t mind sharing some crackers with me when I mentioned it was for Becca.”

“Well, thanks,” Bucky says, breaking the crackers into smaller pieces. “Here, Becs, eat these. Slowly.” Becca nibbles on the crackers hesitantly, and Bucky, Clint and Carly spend the next few minutes hovering anxiously over her, desperately hoping she doesn’t puke. At least, that’s what Bucky’s hoping.

“Better?” Clint asks, tweaking Becca’s nose. She giggles and nods. “Me and your brother were hopin’ we could sneak in a couple more rides before we gotta go, whaddaya think?”

“Can we do the Ferris Wheel one more time?” Carly asks excitedly. Becca nods in agreement. 

“Sure, that’s one of the ones we were thinking anyway,” Bucky agrees. “You two cool with the dragon ride?”

“I love that ride!” Carly says breathlessly, eyes wide. “It goes upside down!”

“Yeah it does!” Bucky chuckles. He stands up and grabs Clint’s hand without even really thinking about it, glancing at Clint after the fact to make sure it’s okay. Clint nods at him, grinning and Bucky relaxes. “Onwards, children!” He says loudly, making Carly laugh. 

He and Clint keep up the shenanigans all the way to the dragon ride, and by the time they get there, Becca and Carly are nearly crying from laughter. ”Bucket, quit it!” Becca whines through her giggles. “I don’t wanna puke on the ride.”

“Alright, alright,” Bucky agrees, “I don’t want you to puke on the ride either. What if you do it at the top of a loop and it lands on me?” He shudders theatrically. “My hair would be  _ ruined _ .”

Carly giggles again, and Becca punches him in the gut before grabbing Carly and running towards the end of the line. “Oof,” Bucky groans. “Kid can pack a punch.”

“I’m sure she learned from the best,” Clint says, smiling down at him softly. 

“Damn skippy,” Bucky retorts as they get in line. “This one’s a lot longer than the other ones we’ve been on today,” he notes. 

Clint peers over the heads of the people in front of them. “Yeah, must be a popular ride.” Bucky hums in agreement. “So...” Clint says, ever so casually. “Ferris Wheel after this?”

Heat floods Bucky’s cheeks, and he nods - hopefully not as frantically as he thinks, but judging by the look on Clint’s face, it was obvious how much he wants this. “Sounds good to me,” Bucky says. A shiver runs down his spine, and Clint pulls him closer.

“It’s cooling off a bit now,” he notes, but Bucky’s far too distracted by Clint’s warm and well-muscled arm around his shoulders to respond with anything other than a grunt. “You alright there, gorgeous?” Clint says, amusement clear in his voice.

“Uh-huh,” Bucky mutters. “Didn’t you say you did archery?”

Clint snorts. “I never said that. You assumed when you saw my arms that I did archery.”

Bucky raises an eyebrow. “Was I wrong?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“Great,” Bucky grins, “I’d love to watch you shoot sometime, if that’s alright.”

Clint practically  _ beams _ at him. “That would be awesome! Maybe I can even teach you a little, show you the basics?”

Bucky’s mind is overrun with images of Clint teaching him how to shoot - Clint’s hands on his hips, adjusting his stance; body pressed flush up against Bucky’s back... He coughs. “Yeah. Yeah, that’d be great.”

Clint just looks adorably confused, and Bucky wants to squish his face. “Great!” He says enthusiastically, albeit a tad hesitantly. They move forward in the line, shuffling past the midway point. Once they start moving, the rest of the wait seems to pass in a flash and they’re getting strapped into the ride and climbing the first hill in no time. “I’ve never been on this one before,” Clint admits nervously.

Bucky squeezes his hand. “It’s fun, there’s a couple loops, couple upside down bits. You’ll love it.”

“I trust you,” Clint says shyly, and the restraints don’t let Bucky turn his head so he can see what is no doubt a pretty pink blush on Clint’s face, so he just squeezes Clint’s hand in response.

“Glad to hear it,” he says, his voice undeniably full of all the squishy feelings Bucky is normally so good at keeping to himself. “Almost at the top of the hill now, get ready!” Clint’s hand tightens on his and Bucky grins as they near the top of the drop. The first few cars go over slowly, and then Bucky and Clint are screaming in joy as they tug the rest of the cars over the edge. 

They go upside down, sideways, backwards, and all three at once - and through it all, Clint never lets go of Bucky’s hand, holding on tightly even as they’re stumbling off the ride, laughing. “That was awesome!” Clint says, eyes wide with joy. 

“There’s a reason it’s our favourite!” Becca says, skipping over to them with Carly following along behind her. “Can we do the Ferris Wheel now?”

Bucky pretends to consider it. “I dunno squirt, I’m gettin’ pretty tired. Maybe we should just call it a night, hmm?”

“Aw, Bucket, you promised!” Becca whines, pulling out the Barnes Puppy Eyes. 

Bucky snorts. “Those don’t work on me kiddo, I can do them too.”

“Will mine work on you?” Clint asks, tilting Bucky’s face up towards him. “D’you think we could go on the Ferris Wheel again, Buck? It’d mean a lot to me.” His voice is soft and his eyes are wide, adding to the trouble Bucky’s brain is having since Clint put his hand on Bucky’s face.

“Yeah, sure, whatever you want,” Bucky says dumbly, snapping out of his daze when Becca starts to giggle.

“I like you,” she declares to Clint, “We’re keeping you.” The four of them start walking towards the Ferris Wheel lineup.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Clint asks amusedly as he pulls a still-recovering Bucky along beside him.

“Nope!” Becca says, grinning. 

“Then I guess I’m a kept man,” Clint says softly, pulling Bucky underneath his arm.

“As long as you’re my kept man,” Bucky’s mouth says without his permission.

“Like I’d be anyone else’s,” Clint scoffs, and Bucky just about melts at the thought of Clint being his. 

“Two to a cart please, next!” The guy in charge of the Ferris Wheel waves them forward, snapping Bucky out of his daydream. He waves Becca and Carly into a cart, shuts the door behind him and then sends them forward, an empty cart coming up behind them. Clint pulls Bucky into that cart and they snuggle up beside each other, Clint’s arm around Bucky’s shoulders as they look out over the park.

“This is nice,” Bucky says, suddenly inexplicably nervous. 

“It’s a nice view,” Clint says, and when Bucky looks at him he finds Clint looking right back, smiling softly. “Best view I’ve ever seen,” he continues, and Bucky blushes.

“Dork,” he mutters, blushing. 

“Your dork, hopefully,” Clint counters. His arms falls off Bucky’s shoulders and Clint takes his hand, turning Bucky’s face towards him with a finger on his chin. It’s sort of funny how Bucky’s been waiting for this moment nearly all day, and now that it’s finally here, his stomach is fluttering so hard he thinks he might throw up and he doesn’t know what to do with his hands or where to look and - “Hey.”

Bucky blinks as Clint’s voice snaps him out of the impending hyperventilation. “What?”

“You were drifting,” Clint says softly, “Back with me?”

“Yeah, sorry, I just,” Bucky stumbles over his words, “I’ve been looking forward to this all day and now it’s here and I don’t know how to act and there’s a lot happening in my head right now.”

“Well, let’s get you out of your head then,” Clint says, smiling. He pulls Bucky in close, wrapping one arm around his waist and letting the other rest on Bucky’s thigh. His thumb rubs little circles into Bucky’s thigh overtop his jeans and his other hand is just a firm, warm weight on Bucky’s hip. 

Personally, Bucky doesn’t see how he’s gonna relax with Clint’s hands all over him like this, but after they go around a couple times, his heart stops racing and he’s able to take deeper breaths. “Huh,” he says thoughtfully, not moving from underneath Clint’s arm. 

“Better?” Clint asks. Bucky nods. “I’m glad.” Before Clint or Bucky can say anything else, the Wheel comes to a stop and the park employee is pulling open their door and ushering them out. Bucky opens his mouth to ask for another go around the Wheel, but Clint is pulling him out of the cart before he can get a single word out. 

“You don’t want to go again?” Bucky asks, stumbling over his own two feet.

“I used to hear the other carnie’s bitching about people who did that,” Clint says, “They’d stop the Ferris Wheel with whoever had asked at the bottom.”

Bucky winces. “Note to self, don’t do that.”

Clint chuckles. The sun has disappeared beneath the horizon and all the lights on the various games and rides at the park have been lit up, decorating the night with a rainbow of colours and patterns. “Cooled off a bit,” Bucky says absently.

“Usually does when the sun goes down,” Clint teases. Bucky glares at him but there’s no real heat behind it, and Clint bumps their shoulders together, smiling softly. He pulls his sweater over his head carefully, yet still manages to mess up his hair.

His head pops through the top of his sweater and he grins at Bucky, hair falling down over his eyes. “You’re a mess,” Bucky says fondly, reaching up and brushing Clint’s hair out of his face.

“Sure,” Clint agrees easily, “But can I be  _ your _ mess?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Bucky breathes, his thumb resting on Clint’s cheekbone. 

“Looks like this is our moment,” Clint murmurs quietly, the words nearly lost in the sounds of the park around them.

“Shut up and kiss me,” Bucky mutters, twisting a hand into the neckline of Clint’s sweater and yanking him down. Clint makes a little surprised noise as their lips meet, and then he gets with the program and kisses Bucky back, letting him take the lead. An idea pops into Bucky’s head, and even though Clint’s a little taller than him, Bucky thinks he can make it work.

He wraps his hands around Clint’s thighs and  _ lifts _ , picking Clint up off the ground easily. For such a tall guy, he’s not very heavy. 

Clint yelps, arms flailing wildly, then his hands clamp down on Bucky’s shoulders and he stabilizes, glaring down at him. “You can’t just  _ do _ that!” he says, grumpy. There’s a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth though, so Bucky just grins. 

“You don’t seem too mad about it,” he says gently, tilting his head back so he can see Clint more clearly.

“Well, I would be more mad about it if I wasn’t about to kiss you again,” Clint grumbles, and then he does. He swallows the surprised little noise that Bucky makes, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck and twirling the little hairs that are falling out of Bucky’s bun. His other hand rubs little circles into Bucky’s shoulder with his thumb, a motion that Bucky finds rather soothing, and completely at odds with what their mouths are doing.

Clint’s lips against his are chapped but smooth, and (finally) feeling them against his own gives Bucky a little thrill that races up his spine and makes him smile into the kiss. Clint pulls away and leans his forehead against Bucky’s, smiling. “Definitely worth the wait,” Bucky says breathlessly, setting Clint back on the ground gently. 

“Ten out of ten, would kiss again,” Clint says, nodding seriously. 

Bucky snorts. “A mess,” he declares, messing up Clint’s hair again, “That’s what you are.”

“As long as I can be your mess,” Clint says shyly, pressing another kiss to Bucky’s mouth. Bucky lingers a little longer on that one, pulling Clint’s bottom lip into his mouth and giving it a little nibble, then licking at it to soothe the sting. 

“Finally!” Bucky and Clint jerk apart at the sound of Becca’s voice, blushing furiously. “We’ve been waiting all day for you two to do that!” She grins up at them. “It’s about time.”

“Shut it, squirt,” Bucky grumbles, messing up her hair. 

“I’m happy for you two,” Carly offers shyly, and Clint grins at her. 

“It’s pretty great,” he admits, winking at her. She giggles when he asks her if she wants to ride on his shoulders and shrieks with laughter when he hoists her up and plops her down on his shoulders.

“Buckyyy,” Becca whines, turning her pleading eyes up at him. 

Bucky rolls his eyes. “Alright, c’mon squirt.”

“Yay!” Becca scrambles up onto his shoulders, kneeing him in the ribcage as she settles herself in. Bucky stands up and she yells, hands clutching Bucky’s hair tightly.

“Becca, hair!” Bucky yelps, eyes watering as the sting. She immediately releases him and grabs onto the arm he has pressed against her back awkwardly instead.

“Sorry, Bucket,” she says, “You just scared me.”

“‘S’okay, Becs,” Bucky says, attempting to pat her back, “I’ll be more careful next time, yeah?” She pats his head in agreement and falls into conversation with Carly, bobbing beside her as Clint and Bucky walk towards the park exit. 

“So, the end of the day,” Clint says quietly.

“Yeah,” Bucky mutters, “Feels like it was only a few minutes ago Becca was yelling at me to tell me you could go on the Ferris Wheel with me.” They stroll along in silence for a few minutes. “If I’m bein’ honest,” Bucky starts, “That wasn’t the first time I saw you.”

“Really?” Clint asks, sounding intrigued.

Bucky nods. “Yeah, I saw you walking around near the game booths earlier. Thought you were cute, named you Cute Guy in my head. Then Becca saw you at the Ferris Wheel, and well, the rest is history.” He shrugs the best he can with Becca on his shoulders, and Clint grabs his hand.

“History indeed,” he says dryly, making Bucky laugh. They arrive at the gate and let Becca and Carly down, sending them through the gates and following along behind them.

“You need a ride home?” Bucky asks, not wanting this day to end.

Clint shakes his head. “Nah, my roommate is coming to get me. Would if I could, though.”

They arrive at Bucky’s car and he unlocks it, letting Becca and Carly put their stuff in the trunk. “Bye Clint!” They chorus, giving Clint a hug before they get into the car.

“Today was fun,” Bucky says softly, looking up at Clint.

“It was.” Clint leans forward and bumps their noses together. “Would you maybe wanna get dinner sometime? With me?”

Bucky grins. “ _ Fuck _ yes I would,” he says, and Clint grins as well before kissing him again. It’s mostly teeth but neither of them care. Bucky enters his number into Clint’s phone and lets Clint do the same to his, and then with one final kiss (and then three more) Bucky climbs into his car. As he’s pulling out of the parking space and starting to drive away, his eyes flick to the rearview mirror - Clint is staring after him, hand raised in a wave. 

Bucky rolls down his window and sticks out his hand, waving furiously. He catches a grin spreading across Clint’s face and grins himself, ignoring the teasing coming from Becca’s seat. “You really like him, don’t you?” Becca says.

Bucky nods. “I really do, squirt.” His phone buzzes, and he pulls it out of his pocket at the train tracks as he’s waiting for a train. 

**Cute Guy Barton: ** _ thanks for taking me for a ride today ;-) _

**Bucket Barnes: ** _ you’re a mess, barton. _

**Cute Guy Barton: ** _ weve been over this im *your* mess _

**Bucket Barnes: ** _ and i wouldn’t have it any other way _

**Cute Guy Barton: ** _ sap _

**Bucket Barnes: ** _ you love it _

**Cute Guy Barton: ** _ yknow? i just might _

**Author's Note:**

> Firstly, [ CB](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kangofu_CB) \- darling, we did it! This fic would not have come into being without your gorgeous art, and I thank the writing deities every day that we were paired together. Thank you for helping me narrow down the original three ideas I had (this one was my favourite too, ngl), thank you for being there for yelling through the whole process - just... thank you. For all of it.
> 
> Secondly, [ flowerparrish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flowerparrish) \- bro!! I made it!! Thank you for giving this a beta read, even with everything that's happening with you, I'm eternally grateful. Love you bro. <3
> 
> And thirdly, thanks to the Bad Decisions Discord for sprinting with me to help me through it, and for listening to my whining about _ "Why won't they just kiss already??" _, and for helping me churn out these words. I'm ever grateful, pals. <3

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[ART] Main Attraction](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20098819) by [hawksonfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawksonfire/pseuds/hawksonfire), [Kangofu_CB](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kangofu_CB/pseuds/Kangofu_CB)


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